Hats off to getting this tournament scheduled as well as played. It was VERY much like a normal tournament. We are thankful to SSUSA and tourney director Will Rogers for getting us back to playing.
Here's the recap from my perspective:
1. Hotel
Stayed at the Hampton Inn. Things different. No breakfast anymore. No daily housekeeping. Other than that, OK. So no issues here.
2. Playing Fields at Rainbow Complex
One of the best complexes to play at. Infields and outfields in perfect shape (also hadn't been played on all year). No food at concession stand.There is decent shade available on all fields.
3. Teams participating
We are a 55AAA team. We had more teams in our bracket (8) than we've ever had. Nebraska, Minnesota, KC (2), STL (2), Illinois and Indiana. Actually played 6 of the 7 different teams.
4. Atmosphere
Again, seemed like old times. Quite a few spectators. Common sense ruled the day as far as physical spacing. Not too many mask wear-ers.
5. Game Play and SSUSA guidelines
Umpires were wearing a weird kind of plastic welder mask thing with heat indexes of 100 both days. I am not an ump so that's their deal. Catchers had to wear a face covering. Some used a surgical mask thing, others a bandana. Again, with 100 heat index temps, this one didn't make sense but glad we were playing. Wasn't really an issue in the big scheme of things but probably unnecessary moving into next month (IMO) Also the balls at the end of an inning had to be thrown back to the rack and "cleaned" before the next inning. This actually made no sense (in just about everyone's opinion). Columbia has huge dugouts. We had no issues spacing out. There were quite a few fist bumps like old times.
6. Scheduling
We're about a 5 hour drive from Columbia. We played early (0800) on Saturday. We do like early games as the weather is better early most times. The way the bracket worked out, we did have a 3 hr gap, but that happens almost every tournament. I can't say what the other team's game times were as it wasn't a concern or factor as far as what we experienced, but if teams played 2 before someone played 1 in the same bracket the heat could play a factor.
7. Forecast
Mostly sunny and looking forward to Tulsa then Rogers. From what is known, Oklahoma is farther along with "re-opening" than any state.
Thanks Bob21
Did most of the games go the full 7 innings?
our 6 games all went 7 innings. All games were in the 20s and teens for runs scored
For our team, we played 6 games and all went 7 except for Game 1 (pool game). I don't think the new regulations were an issue on game time.
We played 8 games and all went a full 7 innings. No issues with that.
